


Do You Want Me to Leave?

by keepshepardsafe



Category: ME1 - Fandom, Mass Effect, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alcohol, Drinking, Fluff, Mourning, No Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 02:11:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13988286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keepshepardsafe/pseuds/keepshepardsafe
Summary: After the events on Virmire, Liara tries to comfort Shepard but she is not successful.





	Do You Want Me to Leave?

**Author's Note:**

> Super short piece I did when I was trying to get over some writer's block but I really like how it turned out!

“Commander,” Liara’s voice was quiet, trailing off. She wasn’t sure if Shepard heard her. “Shepard,” her voice louder now, “Do you want to talk about what happened on Virmire?” Shepard lifted her head, the black circles under her eyes against pale skin made her look ghostlike. She had sat in the mess hall for hours swirling a mug of dark liquor, “No,” the Commander said flatly and knocked back the alcohol. She swallowed hard and stared into the empty cup. Liara wanted to go to her, wrap her in her arms, and comfort her. But she didn’t know what Shepard wanted, she knew so little about human interaction, but Shepard was an absolute anomaly. Despite her recent research of interpersonal communication among humans, Liara was at a lost.

“Shepard, I think…”

“Liara, stop.”

“I’m sorry, Commander. I just wanted to…”

“Wanted to what? Tell me it’s not my fault? Tell me it was for the good of the mission? Ashely is dead. That’s on me.” Shepard barked, pushing herself back into her chair, arms folded while staring daggers into Liara.

Liara exhaled, “Do you want me to leave?”

“Yeah,” Shepard said, pushing herself up from the chair she stormed off to her cabin, “Joker, tell me when we are nearing the Citadel.”

“Aye-aye,” Joker responded.

Liara watched Shepard disappear behind her cabin door, the green indicator turned red. She sighed and left the mess hall toward the elevator to take her the cargo bay.

The door whirred open and Liara looked around surprised to see how everyone seemed to work diligently on their projects despite just losing a team member. Liara looked over at the empty corner by the weapon’s locker and winced at Ashley’s absence. Kaidan was leaned against the wall by the door and stood straight when Liara appeared.

“How is she doing?” Kaidan asked in the same defeated tone Shepard had.

“She doesn’t want to talk. I’ve never seen the Commander like this before.”

“Yeah, me too. Even after Eden Prime Shepard didn’t seem to miss a beat… She is taking Ash’s death pretty hard.”

Liara placed her hand on Kaidan’s shoulder, “You must be taking it hard too. I… can’t imagine. I’m sorry.”

“It will be okay, Liara. But thanks,” Kaidan gave a weak smile, “I wish she just let me in, you know?”

Liara let out a light laugh, “I know exactly what you mean.”

Kaidan laughed too, “Ah, well. Both rejected by the Commander.”

“In more ways than one,” Liara laughed again but out of discomfort, “But she will be okay, I think”

“Yeah, I think so too. We’re close. We’re _so_ close. She just needs to hang on.”

“She will, Lieutenant,” Liara said with more assurance, “I believe we will be at the Citadel soon. I should probably go.”

Kaidan nodded, “I’ll ride with you.”

They got into the elevator and rode up in silence. Back in the mess hall, they walked around the corner to see Shepard’s cabin door was still locked. Joker’s voice broke over the comm, “Approaching the Citadel. ETA twenty-minutes.” The red indicator on Shepard’s door turned green. She stumbled out, rubbing her eyes and leaning against the wall for support. She walked passed Liara and Kaidan as if they weren’t there. They looked at each other with concern.

“Commander,” Liara called out

Shepard turned around, sighing heavily, “I need to get to the bridge. Can we talk later?”

Liara, tried not to look hurt, “I understand, Shepard. I just wanted to say we all know you’re doing your best.” Kaidan nodded with approval.

Shepard gave a small, genuine smile: “Thank you, Liara. But I’m going to be fine. I’m going to do better. For Ash.” She turned back and headed for the bridge.


End file.
